About

Ahead of the Curve provides analysis and insight into today's global financial markets. The latest news and views from global stock, bond, commodity, and FOREX markets are discussed. Rajveer Rawlin is a PhD and received his MBA in finance from the Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales, UK. He is an avid market watcher, having followed capital markets in the US and India since 1993. His research interests include capital markets, banking, investment analysis, and portfolio management, and he has over 20 years of experience in the above areas, covering the US and Indian markets. He has several publications in the above areas. He currently teaches business and management students at CHRIST University. The views expressed here are his own and should not be construed as advice to buy or sell securities.

Showing posts with label capital outflows. Show all posts

Friday, 11 November 2016

Chart of the Week - Surging Bond Yields

The chart of the week is from StockCharts.com and shows the 10 year US bond yield:

It shows bond yields breaking out of long term resistance levels. Bond yields have surged over 50 basis points this month alone. Surging bond yields are triggers for major capitol outflows from risk assets and emerging markets. Recent instances of this were the taper tantrum at the end of QE3 and the 25 basis points hike by the FED last year both of which sent global markets down well over 15%. The FED is incidentally way behind the curve here and the market has already raised rates for the FED.

My Asset Allocation Strategy (Indian Market)

Cash - 40%
Bonds - 20%
Fixed deposit - 20%
Gold - 5%
Stocks - 10% ( Majority of this in dividend funds)
Other Asset Classes - 5%

My belief is that stocks are relatively overvalued compared to bonds and attractive buying opportunities can come along after 1-2 years. In a deflationary scenario no asset class does well other than U.S bonds, the U.S dollar and the Japanese yen, so better to be safe than sorry with high quality government bonds and fixed deposits. Cash is the king always. Of course this varies with the person's age.